Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS) is dedicated to ground-breaking and interdisciplinary research dealing with the relations between culture and society.

The speed at which science is changing our lives gives rise to tensions and concerns. In his talk at Leiden University, Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf (Education, Culture and Science) said we should talk more about science’s relationship with society and political decision-making.

Deadline approaching: Applications are still open for the Summer School ‘The European Union, the United Nations and Global Governance’ (16 - 20 June 2025) for Master-level and PhD students. Application deadline: 15 May 2025.

Are you a great photographer? Or not at all, but you do have a brilliant photo that captures the relationship between food and people? Join the photo contest ‘Food & Society’ of our Faculty and send in your best photo before 3 April 2018!

We are happy that the Media Technology staff and students will together again visit the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz (Austria). The five-day study trip offers a shared source of inspiration and a basis for discussion to students and lecturers.

Do you practice public engagement? The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has just released a unique set of open-source materials designed to be used in public engagement training workshops.

Staff from Leiden University are starting the Dutch universities’ staggered strike against the government cuts on 10 March. Follow the strike in this liveblog.

Exploring cultural production in Europe, Latin America and Africa, the institute’s research programme focuses on the continuous interconnectedness of the Arts and Society in both the textual culture of literature, learning and public debate and the visual culture of art, architecture, film, photography…

ACPA Professor of Auditory Culture and Music Philosophy Marcel Cobussen will give a lecture at the Gaudeamus Academy Workshop Weekend. The GMW Academy is a prelude to the contemporary music festival Gaudeamus Muziekweek, taking place from 7 to 11 september in diverse venues within the center of Utr…

Conference

LUC is the first to confer the diploma of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, the new Faculty name since January 2016 making this graduation an extra special occasion.

On Thursday 19 and Friday 20 September the PROSEPS conference took place in The Hague under the auspices of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University. During the two-day meet up, working group meetings and workshops took place in the New Babylon Conference Centre in the heart…

The Gulf is a major global destination for migrant workers, with a majority of these workers coming from South Asia. In this book, a team of international contributors examine the often-overlooked complex governance of this migration corridor. Going beyond state-centric analysis, the contributors present…

Human Rights at Risk brings together social scientists, legal scholars, and humanities scholars to analyze the policy challenges of human rights protection in the twenty-first century.

In this article, Barrie Sander together with his colleagues explore whether fairness in digital governance inadvertently entrenches structural inequalities

In this article, Isabelle Frens, Jelle van Buuren and Edwin Bakker aim to understand anti-government protests by focusing on empty signifiers.

Dr. Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor at the Europa Institute, presented his paper ‘Building Bridges or Erecting Walls? – The Application of Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination in Europe ‘ at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association.

Tax scandals, like the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers, and the Pandora Papers, have made tax avoidance by large multinationals and rich individuals a major topic of public debate. Policymakers are pushed to close tax loopholes and reform the global tax system. But this is no easy task.

The Netherlands in September 2021 could be characterised as a low-trust society. Trust in the government has declined significantly in the past one-and-a-half years: from almost 70 percent in April 2020 to less than 30 percent in September 2021. There has also been a slight decrease in trust between…

How interest groups, differences in policy issues and institutional differences between countries affect whether public opinion is translated into policy?

An overview of the media appearances of scientists working with the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs about terrorist attacks in Europe, their consequences, and more.

This systematic review of 68 English-language articles explores the roles of customary authorities in environmental governance in sub-Saharan Africa

Natural resources often stretch across borders that separate modern nation states. This can create conflict and limit opportunities for regulated consumption of their goods and services, but also provide opportunities for joint multinational efforts that exceed single country capabilities.

The Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) has appointed Jos Raaijmakers, professor of Microbial Interactions and diversity, as a new scientific member.

'The Routledge Handbook of Civil and Uncivil Society in Southeast Asia' explores the nature and implications of civil society across the region, engaging systematically with both theoretical approaches and empirical nuance for a systematic, comparative, and informative approach.

Are you thinking about studying Crisis and Security Management: Governance of Violence? Learn more and watch the videos.

Tracing the residues of Neolithic activities through the study of stone artefacts

Dr Madalina Busuioc has completed a study for the European Parliament titled

This Spring we relaunched our free online course The Importance and Power of Music in our Society.

During the final event of the PRE-Class Rechtsgeleerdheid, secondary school pupils organised a mock trial on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society. Together with the audience, they explored the possibilities and pitfalls of AI. ‘They all did a wonderful job.’

On 10 October 2018 Cees de Groot and Jelle Nijland organized a round-table-symposium ‘Government and private governance’ for experts in the field of private governance issues. This day was made possible by the LUF. The main objective of the symposium was to brainstorm with experts from various backgrounds,…

Master, PhD

Resilient Diversity: the Governance of Racial and Religious Plurality in the Dutch Empire, 1600-1800

Leiden University Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) launches the open online course Music & Society on Coursera to advance worldwide access to high-quality education. The course starts on January 9, 2017 and will be taught by Prof. dr. Marcel Cobussen and drs. Hafez Ismaili M’hamdi.

Madeleine O. Hosli, Professor of International Relations, wrote this book in which she analyses the complex relations between the European Union (EU) as a regional organization and the United Nations (UN) as an international, global governance institution.

On the 18th of November the article: 'Minder overheid, maar wie denkt er na over de lange termijn? (translation from Dutch: 'Less government, but who is thinking long term?') written by prof. dr. Frits M. van der Meer was posted on Mejudice: 'an independent forum for discussions aiming to stimulate…

As from 1 February Adriaan Bedner is the new KITLV professor (bij special appointment) of Law and Society in Indonesia at the Van Vollenhoven Institute (VVI), Leiden University.

SAILS aims to forge links between the different disciplines at the University and to initiate new academic partnerships.

The Public Administration specialisation in Economics, Governance and Management combines public administration with economics to analyse issues such as the climate or housing crisis. You will learn to think economically and formulate policy advice.

In the Public Administration specialisation in Policy, Governance and Organisation, you will analyse current issues such as the housing crisis, energy transition, and immigration. You will learn how policy is developed and how public organisations function from various perspectives.

On 16 June 2020, Andrea Varga defended her thesis 'Establishing State Responsibility in the Absence of Effective Government'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. N.J. Schrijver and Prof. F. Baetens (University of Oslo).

The government could do more to improve its diversity, says Saniye Çelik. By hiring people from a variety of backgrounds, the government will be better able to handle issues together with its citizens. Employees will also feel more connected to the organisation. PhD defence 10 November.

From 3 to 5 September 2025, the project Governing and Building the City will organize the conference 'Good Governance and the Built Environment of Late Medieval Cities (ca. 1200–1600)' at KBR in Brussels. The deadline for the call for papers is 7 April.

Together with four European partner universities heritage specialist Dr Monique van den Dries has been granted an Erasmus+ project (EU-CUL) by the European Commission. This project sets up a unique cooperation between educational scientists and academic heritage specialists. It will study how universities…